Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Sausage and Kale

Spaghetti squash is winter squash unlike any other. When you cook it and scrape it with a fork, the flesh peels away like ribbons of pasta, hence the name. The taste is light and texture almost a little crunchy.

Spaghetti squash’s best friend? Sausage. They just like each other, like pasta and meatballs.

Method

1 Preheat oven and prepare pan: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Oil a sheet pan with one tablespoon of the oil, or line the sheet pan with Silpat.

2 Prep the spaghetti squash: With a sharp chef's knife, slice off 1/2-inch from the ends of the spaghetti squash. Then stand the squash up on one of the ends to stabilize it, and cut the squash in half, top to bottom.

Scoop out any seeds and stringy bits inside, and place the squash halves cut-side down on the oiled or lined sheet pan. Poke the tops of the halves with the tip of a sharp knife.

3 Bake: Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 35 to 45 minutes until you can easily poke the sides of the squash with a fork. Remove from oven and let sit until cool enough to handle. Then using the tines of a fork, scrape out the "spaghetti"-like strands of the squash to a bowl.

4 Sauté onions, garlic, kale: In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for a minute more.

Add the sliced kale and cook for a minute or two.

5 Add the sausage: Add the sausage and cook without stirring, until the sausage starts to brown, then stir and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage bits are cooked through, about 2 to 3 minutes.

6 Add the spaghetti squash strands to the sausage mixture and stir to combine, cook until the squash is heated through, about a minute.

7 Add Parmesan and oregano: Remove from heat and add the grated Parmesan cheese and oregano. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.

Hi, love the recipes. Do any of your recipes have the nutritional values listed? I count carbs and would like and easy way to keep count. I just might have to total each ingredient myself and that’s not a problem. Thanks.

Oh my. I’ve tried a couple of your recipes before, Elise, but this takes the cake. My elderly parents and teenage daughter who often pick at my healthy meals both went for seconds before we ran out. Husband and I had to hold back and filled up with ice cream. I made my life a little easier by – merely poking the whole squash a couple times before baking it whole until soft (the previous day); – using frozen chopped onion and kale; – using ground sweet Italian pork sausage (would have used chicken/turkey if they’d had it aty grocery). The whole thing came together in less than ten minutes. A keeper. Only next time I need to make more.

I’m sure this would be great as written, but for some reason I couldn’t stick to recipe, lol. I doubled the sausage, I added green peppers and diced tomatoes fresh from my garden. I reduced the Parmesan cheese as well. My husband and I loved it. My 7 year old wouldn’t touch it so, more for us!

Wow, this was delicious!! My boyfriend said “This is one of the top 3 to 5 things you’ve ever made”…and I cook a LOT. Used extra kale, and I actually stuffed the filling back into the squash shells, topped them with extra parmesan, and broiled them. Fantastic!

After weeks of unhealthy holiday overeating, this was the perfect meal to start the new year – it will definitely make a repeat appearance on my dinner table. I made a few minor changes: replaced the red onions with shallots, nearly doubled the kale, and used both spicy and sweet Italian chicken sausage. Absolutely delish!

I’ve now made this recipe twice and my family LOVES it – teenagers included. I use a whole bunch of kale as well – doesn’t seem to alter the flavor – and have used two different types of sausage. My husband, not usually impressed by squash, just said, “You have renewed my faith in the squash family.” (He has a botany background.) And, I used the SR app on my phone for the recipe since the kids were on the big computer. Thanks!

Hi! I hate spaghetti (I have no idea why, it’s probably just a stubborn habit at this point!) and so have resisted even trying spaghetti squash because of the correlation. What a fool! I love, love, loved this recipe! Thank you for turning me on to it! I used local hot italian sausage (Humboldt County, CA yay!) and it was amazing. I too doubled the greens. I had chard on hand so i used that, but next time i think i would quadruple the greens. What can i say? We are lucky enough to have amazing meat and produce here, that I was able to use ALL local ingredients, even down to the olive oil! Awesome recipe!

I have to admit that when I saw this recipe, I was hesitant to try it. I tried spaghetti squash years ago and didn’t like it: I thought it was too crunchy, flavorless, and just not worth the effort. I’m happy to report that I did try it and it was delicious, especially the day after, when the flavors really had a chance to meld together. I will admit that I roasted my spaghetti squash at a higher temp — 425 F. — because I wanted the high heat to “caramelize” the squash and make it more flavorful. It definitely made my squash softer, and it didn’t come out as “stringy” as yours, and whether that was due to the higher cooking temp or because of the squash, I don’t know. I used Olivier’s Butchery’s (in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood) Provencal sausage and packaged organic baby kale. This recipe is definitely going on the keeper list — thank you!

I can’t believe how good this recipe was! Normally my family hates squash and it’s a struggle to get them to eat any vegetable really. This recipe went over so well, I was asked to make a double batch next week to make sure everyone has enough. I’m going to play around with the meat and try some fresh venison we just got. I’m guessing it will be even better! Thanks again!

Delicious! I used a slivered white/yellow onion as that’s what I had on hand. Also doubled the amount of kale. Between my husband and myself we ate the whole thing!

Also, as someone else suggested, you can cook the squash in the microwave to speed up the process. I cut the squash in half, scoop out the guts & seeds and invert one half (cut side down) in a bowl with a few tablespoons of water. Microwave on high for about 8 minutes for each half, then let cool before scooping out the strings. Easy way to cook any kind of squash, really.

I loved this recipe. I used Isernio chicken apple sausage which gave it a lot of flavor, maybe too much flavor. I didn’t feel the parmesan was needed. I added some lime juice, because I had it on hand but next time I’d put in a generous squeeze of lemon. This dish really screams for lemon, in my opinion. Also I agree that 3 cups of kale would be fine.

This dish is really the bomb. First time I tried spaghetti squash, and I love it. Have made it a couple times already. I am such a fan, Elise. I’m from Acton, and live in DC now. So I really appreciate your New England connection, as well as your Mexican connection because my Dad (from Boston) spent a lot of time in San Antonio (USAF) during the Korean Conflict so he (and eventually Mom) raised us on Tex Mex too. Brava!!

It was awesome!!! It was the first time I’ve ever had spaghetti squash so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out really well.
Have you thought about putting out a cookbook? I consistently love your recipes–they’re easy to follow, not too complicated and super delicious. My favorite is the tomatilla with shrimp and feta. Super yum!

Thanks for the kudos Sam. If you like this recipe I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy of Bountiful, the beautiful cookbook from which I got the recipe (my only addition was to add kale). Diane and Todd are dear friends and fabulous cooks. Every recipe in that book is wonderful.

Made this tonight and LOVED it! Only things I did differently was using chicken sausage and also adding a few handfuls of fresh spinach. I’d up the greens even more next time because they really do cook down so much. My meat and potatoes loving husband went back for seconds :). Can’t wait to make this for my gluten free friends who miss their pasta. Thanks for a great recipe!

Just made this Saturday night, and it was real good. I substituted spinach for the kale since I had that on hand, and used Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage. We had the rest of it last night and my hubby said it’s a keeper!